Soul Sirkus

Soul SirkUS
Origin	2003
Genres	Hard rock
Years active	2003–2005
Associated acts	Journey
Past members	Jeff Scott Soto Neal Schon Marco Mendoza Deen Castronovo

Soul SirkUS is a band that initially featured singer Jeff Scott Soto, guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Marco Mendoza, and drummer Deen Castronovo.

After the failed Planet Us project with Sammy Hagar did not produce an album, Neal Schon was determined to see the material he had written come to life. According to Schon, "I was angry because we had plans and I had done a lot of pre-work. I wrote a lot of songs, about 30 or more, and I had just done a lot of work and put a lot of energy into it. ... A few days later I cooled off and I just re-grouped and got to my senses and I put the pieces of the puzzle back together again with some different guys." (See the Planet Us article for further history leading to the formation of Soul SirkUS).

Schon had heard of the reputation of Soto, mainly due to coverage on the AOR-focused website MelodicRock.com, which detailed his history with the band Talisman. At the 2004 annual NAMM Show in Los Angeles, Schon met up with Soto and tested the waters with a jam session: "Jeff brought his drummer and his bass player down and we sort of sketched out a little set, even though we didn’t have time to rehearse. We did some Led Zeppelin and Journey songs and we did some Stevie Wonder and some blues. We played a little 45-minute set and the people pretty much went off; they loved it. Immediately, I knew we had some chemistry and that it would work."

While in Los Angeles, Schon also attended a showcase featuring Mendoza (known for his work with Whitesnake) and was impressed with his ability. Inviting Soto, Mendoza and Journey's drummer Castronovo to join him, the new band began rehearsing and eventually recorded 11 songs for their debut album, World Play. Although all the foundation tracks on the album were originally written for Planet Us, only one completed song from that band was used for Soul SirkUS' debut. That song was "Peephole", originally entitled "Peeping Through a Hole" on the Planet Us version. The rest of the album was developed by Soto who took Schon's lengthy instrumental tracks and "chopped them down" into songs which he added his vocals to.

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